The document discusses brand extension strategies used by the clothing brand Park Avenue. It began as a men's clothing brand and later launched a women's line called Park Avenue Woman. It has also extended into accessories like ties and belts and men's toiletries like soap and deodorant. The analysis found that these extensions maintained the brand's values of being premium, stylish, and targeting young professionals. Some risks of brand extension include diluting the original brand image if extensions do not live up to expectations or cannibalizing existing product sales. The strategy can be effective if extensions augment the core brand proposition and provide a complete solution for consumers.

1. Brand Extension by Bhawani Nandan Prasad - MBA, IIM Calcutta
Brand extension is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-
developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category.
Organisations use this strategy to increase and leverage brand equity
Two FMCG companies P&G (Procter & Gamble) and Unilever are concentrating on big
brands that generate sales of more than $1 billion. P&G recently launched two new
products using brand extension: new biodegradable wipes named Kandoo, launched
under Pampers parent brand, and a new product for washing cars under Mr. Clean
parent brand.
Brand Extension is the use of a successful brand name to launch a new or modified
product or service. Explain this strategy with suitable examples.
Park Avenue is one of the many brands offered by the Raymond Group. It provides
stylish and innovative wardrobe solutions and is famous for its good fittings. The brand
provides formal clothing for various occasions like regular office wear, high powered
corporate meetings and festivals. Park Avenue started off as a men’s wear brand. In
2007 ‘Park Avenue Woman’, a range of business wear for women was launched. It is
designed for the working women professionals of today.
Brand Proposition of the original product- Park Avenue Men’s Wear
The rationale for using the name Park Avenue for Raymond India’s ready to wear men’s
clothing was to give a western name which was synchronous with great fabric and great
fit.
The brand has over the years undergone many changes as it tries to reach out to the
urban young corporate consumer. While it started off as a brand that was fashionable
and meant for slightly older customers who trusted the Raymond heritage, the brand
repositioned itself later to tap the new managers, who wanted to be different, that
emerged in the 90s.
In 2000 the brand came up with the new positioning tagline- ‘Start Something New’. The
brand launched a new print and television campaign in order to shed its old image and
target the young entrepreneurs who were emerging in the booming IT era. It realized
that these young consumers wanted to be different and break away from the traditional
ways to start something new.
Analysis of the Brand “Park Avenue”
Target Audience: The brand targets young middle class corporate employee who are
fashion conscious but need to wear formal clothes on a daily basis. The brand also has a
secondary audience in the form of older men which is primarily due to the strong
heritage that this brand has.

2.  Brand Personality: Park Avenue symbolizes a person (male) who likes to explore the
unknown, do something different. He has an entrepreneurial spirit and wants to be
a leader in everything he does. He is a person who wants to express himself and his
style through his clothes.
 Key Brand Values: The key brand values are- Smart, innovative, different, exciting,
premium, trusted. We also believe that the brand also stood for masculinity before
venturing into female clothing.
Example of Brand Extensionsby Park Avenue
The brand has extended into:
 Accessories: Ties, belts, shoes, cufflinks
 Men’s Toiletries: Soaps, deodorants, aftershave, shaving cream, talcum powder, gels
Analysis on the basis of Criteria for Brand Extensions:-
Extension Category:
The new category into which a brand extends should be in line with the nature of the parent
brand and sometimes even the expertise it represents.
 Accessories: While extending into accessories, Park Avenue leveraged its expertise in
clothing and the association that consumers make with looking good in a corporate/formal
environment. This is a natural extension for the brand to give consumers the full range of
formal dressing-right from clothes to belts and shoes.
 Men’s Toiletries: Men’s toiletries are an extended part of a man’s looks. The products in this
category which fit in line with the brand Park Avenue
The value perception
A successful brand extension has to ensure that there is consistency in the value perception
of the brand in the new category as compared to in the original category
 Accessories: The accessories that Park Avenue sells are premium and elegant due to which
they fit in with the values that the brand stands for.
The description for accessories as follows:
 Shoes: Crafted from fine European leather and finished with a lustrous shine.
 Ties: Complete your ensemble with the perfect tie from Park Avenue. These exquisite woven
and printed ties come in various designs. These silk ties give a new meaning to the term
power dressing. From these descriptions, it is clear that Park Avenue continues to maintain
the premium, classy, new age, youthful image that it has built in clothing.
 Men’s Toiletries: The deodorants and perfumes that they sell have a label which reads as
follows-“Genuine French Eau De Parfum” with information on the pulse points which act as
mini fragrance pumps. The French fragrance again adds uniqueness to the perfume which is
in line with the brand values. The logic behind entering perfumes and deodorants was that
research showed that there was no major perfume brand in the men’s market.

3. On analyzing the distribution strategy of Park Avenue’s toiletries, we saw that the
company’s distribution strategy is in line with its pricing strategy. Park Avenue soaps and
deodorants are available at normal general stores. Perfumes are available at supermarkets
unlike big brands which are available only in shopping malls. The perfumes, which are priced
at around Rs. 450, need to be made available easily to the middle class consumer. We felt
that the pricing strategy in toiletries was in line with the pricing in clothing which is to
appeal to the middle class consumer.
On the whole we felt that Park Avenue’s brand extensions maintained the original values of
the parent brand.
Competitive Edge
The last criterion we used for analyzing the brand extensions was to see the competitive
edge. A great brand in one category need not always offer a competitive difference over
other brands in another category. It is necessary for the brand to offer consumers some
advantage in order for them to adopt the product in the new category.
What are the pitfalls in brand extension strategy?
a) Dilution of the existing brand image: underlines that the extensions are using the most
important asset of the company that i.e. its brand name. It can be a major advantage for the
extension but it represents as well a huge risk for the existing brand because the brand image
can be diluted. Park, McCarthy & Milberg, (1993, p60) said that those positive and negative
consequences are “reciprocity effects” and defined as “a change in the initial customer’s
behavior regarding the brand, after an extension”. She explains that a brand extension can
damage the brand. A dilution of the brand capital can happen by the occurrence of undesirable
associations or by the weakening of the existing associations. This latter can be a consequence
of new associations transferred from the extension.
b) an accident occurring with a product can lead to tarnish the image of the all brand. In addition,
it is sometimes difficult to associate one brand to two products without weakening the brand
position in the customer’s mind.
c) Cannibalization: The extensions can cannibalize the existing products of the brand when there
are positioned in a close market. It means the extensions sales are increasing while those of the
existing brand’s products are following the opposite curved.
Example of Brand Extension failure
Following are example of brand extension failure in India:-
i. Rasna Ltd. - Is among the famous soft drink companies in India. But when it tried to move away
from its niche, it hasn’t had much success. When it experimented with fizzy fruit drink
“Oranjolt”, the brand bombed even before it could take off. Oranjolt was a fruit drink in which
carbonates were used as preservative. It didn’t work out because it was out of synchronization
with retail practices. Oranjolt need to be refrigerated and it also faced quality problems. It has a
shelf life of three-four weeks, while other soft- drinks assured life of five months.

4. ii. Ponds toothpaste is a classic case of product failure by extension. Brands need to be careful to
choose the territory in which they tread. Brands need to be cautious while choosing the territory
in which they tread. Lack of proper research before entry into a new market or segment can
lead to catastrophic results which include wasting of big sum of money on product development
and marketing.
HUL brand Ponds successfully moved from cold cream to other extensions such as Age defying
creams, soap, shampoo & talc, because the basic premise of protection for the skin and freedom
from wear and tear remained the same, while as in case of Ponds toothpaste its failed even
though both the product are also to be used for cleanness and freshness.
With toothpaste we clean & then spit it out, whereas with cream, soap or shampoo we apply it
externally. Thus perception of cleanness and freshness is taken so differently in different
products. Even-though the attributes are same, soap & toothpaste yet the market does not
perceive it to be same.
How does brand extension strategy could augment a core product and value proposition that set
it apart from competitors?
 Presence: Initially consumers become aware that such a brand exists. It’s very important for
a brand to have a solid base as it builds on this (i.e. only those who are aware of the brand
are likely to consider it for further evaluation). Success of this stage primarily depends on
effective communication & word of mouth (which in turn depends on performance, the
third stage of this pyramid).
 Relevance: Out of those who are aware of the brand, some find its proposition relevant to
their needs. This is the stage where a brand gets into the consideration set of prospective
consumers.
 Performance: If the first two stages of the brand has invoked enough interest in the
consumers’ mind then they experiment with the brand. Those who find its performance
satisfactory at this stage put the brand into their repeat consideration set.
 Advantage: Those consumers who are satisfied at the 3rd stage of pyramid, start repeating
the brand & their interaction with the brand starts. At this stage they start experiencing the
‘extra advantages’ that the brand offers to them.
 Bonding: Out of those who have found extra advantages about the brand, some interact
very frequently & intensely with the brand & form an emotional bond with the brand.
Example
 Look at how various extensions have strengthened ‘Park Avenue’ overall as a brand:
 Presence: As ‘Park Avenue’ did advertisement (especially Print ads) of accessories & some
toiletries (especially soap), it strengthened base (presence) of the ‘Park Avenue’ brand.
 Relevance: By evolving as a “complete grooming solution”, they have increased their
relevance to the consumer.
 Performance & Advantage: Here the brand values of ‘Park Avenue’ which were transferred
to extensions boosted these two levels of the brand pyramid.

5.  Bonding: Consumers’ bonding with the brand increased as it gave them ‘a complete
grooming solution’.